(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a mechanism for dispensing one or more stamps or the like from a strip and relates to the Geneva drive system of the stamp dispensing mechanism of the invention.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
A number of U.S. patents have been granted for stamp vending machines that have more than one stamp dispensing mechanism, i.e., module. Illustrative patents are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,548,991 and 3,655,109. Each machine of these patents is constructed to dispense various combinations of stamps of various denominations from modules of the machine that include for each module a magazine containing a roll of a strip of stamps. Each module is operated to feed, for one cycle of operation, a length of a strip through an associated opening in the front panel of the machine. The length of the strip fed through the opening is dependent upon the number of stamps to be dispensed from the module. The number of stamps, as a strip, that pass through the opening, is dependent upon the coins or coin, respectively, introduced in the slot in the front panel and, in the case of the machine of U.S. Pat. No. 3,548,991, is dependent upon the button that is pressed to select a particular combination of stamps. When sufficient change has been fed through the slot of the machine of U.S. Pat. No. 3,548,991 and a button corresponding to the change is pressed, the cycle of operation of each module required for the dispensing of the particular combination of stamps is initiated.
For each module having its operation initiated, its motor will turn a feed wheel or a drive roller for a predetermined number of steps of partial rotation to feed through the associated opening a length of the strip that is subsequently cut or manually torn from the balance of the strip that remains inside the machine. At the completion of the operation of a module of the machine, the module of each patent is constructed to prevent the strip from being manually pulled through the opening to obtain more stamps that was fed through the opening in the machine during the programmed operation of the module.
The module used in the machine of U.S. Pat. No. 3,548,991 is an improvement over the single stamp dispensing module used in the machine of U.S. Pat. No. 3,538,801. In that earlier module a pulse, provided by pressing a select button, to a solenoid initiates the operation of the module to present externally of the module a number of connected stamps that this module can feed during one cycle of its operation. This operation of the solenoid by the initiating pulse raises a pawl from a counting roller. The raised pawl closes a switch that energizes a driving motor that then turns a drive roller. At the time that the motor is energized, the closed switch energizes a solenoid to move a cutter from the opening through which the strip of stamps passes. The counting wheel is rotated by a moving strip over which it passes before passing between the drive roller and a pinch roller.
The counting roller or wheel has rows of projections that are spaced so that they mate with perforations between adjacent stamps of the strip of stamps and thereby the counting roller is turned to count, as the strip is pulled between the drive roller and the pinch roller. The counting roller has also a plurality of notches about its periphery and the pawl of a pawl assembly, when raised, is moved out of one of these notches. The construction of the pawl assembly is such that the pawl moves into the next notch during the turning of the counting roller. When this happens, the switch opens whereby the driving motor is de-energized and the solenoid for the cutter is de-energized. The cutter operates to cut the strip of stamps at the opening of the dispensing module. This cut is at a row of perforations of the strip.
The opening of the switch stops the drive of the strip of stamps because it stops the rotation of the driving roller. The number of stamps that is dispensed through the opening is determined by the equal spacing between the notches of the counting roller. To change the number of stamps dispensed by the module for a cycle of operation, it is necessary to replace the counting roller with a counting roller having different equally spaced notches. With this construction of the module of a stamp vending machine, it it is not possible for a particular stamp denomination to use the machine to dispense different numbers of stamps merely by pressing different buttons.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,548,991 discloses a dispensing module that is basically the same as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,538,801. It has a latch arm, that is raised by the operation of a latch solenoid by a pulse, that is provided by operating a select switch. The latch arm is raised, by the operation of the latch solenoid, from the one of the equally spaced notches in the counting roller or wheel, that has the equally spaced rows of projections. This movement of the latch arm closes a latch arm switch to start the operation of the driving motor. The counting roller is driven by the motor. The motor is also coupled to a countdown gear. Selector solenoids are mounted on the frame of the module and engage latch triggers that control a trip cone for de-energizing a countdown switch. The selector solenoids are counting solenoids and they select the number of stamps which will be dispensed for a particular operation of the module.
The operation to dispense a number of stamps is determined by which of the counting solenoids is energized. The latch solenoid maintains the latch arm out of contact with the counting roller until the countdown gear has been turned by the motor to the position that the energized counting solenoid is effective to de-energize the latch solenoid that raised the latch arm. The arm lowers to engage a notch in the counting roller and the latch switch is de-energized so that the motor stops. Then the counting wheel is locked by the lowered latch arm so that the strip of nondispensed stamps cannot be pulled out of the module.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,655,109 discloses a stamp dispensing machine having a number of stamp dispensing modules. Each of the modules includes a feed wheel that has a substantially cylindrical outer surface except for a plurality of recesses that are substantially rectangular in shape. The recesses are equidistantly spaced by the circumference of the feed wheel. Each of these cylindrical surface portions between the recesses contains a row of projections. The recesses are located so that adjacent rows of projections from the cylindrical surface are spaced at a distance to the longitudinal distance between rows of perforations in the strip of stamps.
The feed wheel is driven in a stepwise fashion by a motor through a Geneva cam mechanism that includes a Geneva cam wheel. A gear carries a drive pin along a circular path. During approximately one-half of this path the pin is in engagement with teeth of the Geneva cam wheel. One rotation of the gear carrying the pin provides one step of the rotation of the Geneva cam wheel. The gear carrying the drive pin is driven by the motor through a gear train. One of the gears of the gear train has an arcuate camming recess that has inwardly sloping end walls. A Geneva switch assembly that includes a cam follower pin that has its end held in engagement with the surface of the gear having the recess. The engagement is at a point of the circumferential track of the recess. A pair of switch contacts are mounted with one of the switch contacts being resiliently held in engagement with the other end of the cam follower pin. When the cam gear containing the arcuate recess is rotated, the cam follower pin is moved into and out of a cam recess so that the Geneva switch contacts are alternately opened and closed. These switch contacts are connected in a series circuit with a coil of a solenoid so that the solenoid coil is energized when the switch contacts are closed and de-energized when the switch contacts are opened. The alternate energization and de-energization of the solenoid steps a rotational stepping apparatus. Simultaneously with each step of the stepping switch apparatus a count of one unit is registered by a counter. Thus, the motor, when operating to drive the feed wheel in a stepwise fashion through the Geneva cam mechanism, also intermittently operates the stepping switch and the counter. A control circuit cooperates with the stepping switch to stop the machine when a predetermined number of stamps have been dispensed. A lock is moved into one of the recesses of the feed wheel either after each intermittent operation of the feed wheel or after each dispensing cycle of operation. This movement of the lock into a recess is initiated by the control circuit described above. This lock is necessary, because the Geneva cam assembly does not prevent the rotation of the feed wheel by pulling on the undispensed strip of stamps when the motor is shut off.